In 1974, Japan passed the Act on the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries. Under it, a craftsperson can be certified as a dentō kōgeishi, a traditional craftsman. To take the examination, a candidate must have at least twelve years of practical experience in the producing region and still be working in the craft.
Falsified Data
On October 8, 2017, Kobe Steel announced at a press conference that inspection data for aluminum and copper products had been falsified. Commentators wrote that trust in Japanese manufacturing had been shaken.
On March 4, 2022, Hino Motors disclosed improper engine certification for trucks and buses. A special investigation committee concluded that the cause lay in a company culture in which people could not speak up to those above them.
The God of the Bunt
Kawai Masahiro, an infielder for the Yomiuri Giants and later the Chunichi Dragons, became known as bunto no kamisama, the god of the bunt. He has said that in 1989 he gave up his own hitting to concentrate on defense and bunting: “From that year, I threw away batting.”
On August 20, 2003, against Yokohama, he made his 512th sacrifice bunt and passed the world record of Eddie Collins of the Athletics and other teams. By 2006, his total had reached 533.
The Vocabulary of Shared Credit
Okagesama de (お陰様で): thanks to you. A Japanese explainer notes that it carries the meaning: “I could not have done it alone, but I was able to do it thanks to you.”
Ichigan (一丸): one lump. The Daijisen dictionary defines it as a single mass with one heart. Its example: zen’in ichigan to natte nankyoku o kirinukeru, everyone becomes one to get through a crisis.
Maiko Stages
A young woman who wants to become a maiko in Kyoto first spends about a year as a shikomi, living in and training. Then comes minarai, learning by watching. At a designated teahouse, she is allowed to see what happens at the banquets. The day she becomes a maiko is called misedashi.
Around the fourth or fifth year as a maiko, after the age of twenty, she becomes a geiko. This step is called erikae, the changing of the collar.
Parent Role and Child Role
Oyabun kobun (親分子分): parent role and child role. The encyclopedia Mypedia defines it as a relationship of domination and subordination that a protector forms with a dependent within a social group, especially one that involves the whole person and resembles that of parent and child.
Another encyclopedia notes that the phrase now calls to mind the yakuza or political factions. In sociology and folklore studies, however, it is a key term for understanding the structure of Japanese society.
Seniors Pay
In Japanese university clubs, seniors often pay for juniors. A former club member told Money Post: Ichinensei ni wa ichinenkan, senpai ga zengaku ogoru no ga dentō deshita. It was our tradition that the seniors paid the whole bill for first-year students for a full year.
The duty is felt. In a survey of 406 people by the company LeoSophia about paying for juniors, 231 said it was a slight burden and 56 a heavy burden. 119 said it was no burden.
Masters of Praise
In 2011, the Japan Praise Masters Association, Nihon Homeru Tatsujin Kyōkai, was founded by Nishimura Takayoshi, who became its chair. It runs a certification test in praising, the Hometatsu! Kentei.
An article in the business magazine President reported that more than 5,000 people had passed the test and that companies and local governments were adopting it quickly.
The Plane Shaving
The temple carpenter Ogawa Mitsuo trained under the master carpenter Nishioka Tsunekazu. The one order he received was: Kore to onaji kannakuzu ga dekiru yō ni ha o toge. Sharpen the blade until it makes a shaving like this one. Outside working hours, Ogawa stuck the single shaving he had been handed on a window and kept sharpening.
Looking back, he found that he had been taught almost nothing concrete. “Master Nishioka never once taught me step by step. But we were always together.”
Practice in Parts
In the tea ceremony, the first stage of training is warigeiko, practice in parts. It covers the basic procedures for thin and thick tea, almost everything that people picture when they think of the tea ceremony.
A paper in the repository of Aichi University says that warigeiko is basically taught not by the master but by the master’s senior pupils. It calls this stage of learning a stage of watching.